Vitali: Sonatas op. 5, 1669

The city of Modena, under the rule of the Este family,was the capital of the Dukedom of Modena e Reggio.Thanks to Duke Francesco ii’s fondness for the violin, music became an essential element in the most important events at the Este court, such as receptions, weddings and official visits of foreign sovereigns.These were the occasions in which the Duke displayed all his magnificence. Modena stands out for the abundance of its collection of musical documents in the Biblioteca Estense: the library is a real mine, largely unexplored so far.This consideration gave rise to the idea of making this beautiful, extraordinarily modern music available to those who are “pursuing” culture and art. So our goal is to promote a rediscovery of the enormous heritage preserved in the Biblioteca Estense, by carrying out a meticulous study of the sources of the works of the composers who were active at the Este Court in Modena, transcribing them into modern notation and critical editions, and producing monographic recordings of them.The first step consisted in the study and recording of the instrumental works of Giovanni BattistaVitali. In this fourth of 6 CDs dedicated to his music preserved at the Estense Library of Modena, the baroque group Italico Splendore performs the Sonatas op. 5.The title of each of the sonatas is the surname of a well-known aristocratic family of the area of Modena: this wasVitali’s explicit homage to the circles in which he was working. Each sonata is different in its affect and style: the musical material is complex and diversified, almost as if it were actually personalised: this seems to suggest that there is a deliberate correspondence between the individual pieces and the people to whom they were dedicated.